SLIMMED-DOWN singer Sinead O'Connor revealed her dramatic weight loss yesterday and said she had lost two stone since coming off medication for a misdiagnosed condition.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Irish Independent, the 44-year-old said she would not be having any more children but was open to marrying again -- for a fourth time.

The singer also criticised Bono and the Catholic Church, and added that she hoped to win an Oscar for a song on a film soundtrack next year.

Ms O'Connor's return to the shaved head and svelte look that helped launch her to worldwide fame with 'Nothing Compares 2 U' two decades ago will delight her fans.

"I don't go along with that 'I feel great because I lost weight' bulls**t, because I felt fine before," she told the Irish Independent.

"I only feel better because people aren't being so abusive to me any more about my weight."

Showing off her slimmed-down shape for the first time, Ms O'Connor denied any weight-loss programme to shed the pounds, but said she planned to keep in shape.

"I've heard 'Curves' are great for toning up and you don't have to spend any longer than half an hour exercising ,which suits me as a I hate gyms," she said.

Last August, pictures of a noticeably heavier Ms O'Connor were posted on US blogger Perez Hilton's website after she performed in Wicklow with a bulging belly visible.

"A lot of the weight loss is down to me coming off medication after being mistakenly diagnosed as being bi-polar. I had to come off the meds gradually but once I stopped completely last month, it's just been dropping off," she said.

The new image comes as Ms O'Connor prepares to release her best album in nearly a decade, and performs a one-off show in Dublin's Olympia next month.

The mother of four is also hoping for an Oscar next year, after teaming up with actress Glenn Close.

The Hollywood star spent much of this year in Dublin shooting the film 'Albert Nobbs', in which she plays a woman who passes herself off as a man to survive in Victorian Dublin.

Ms Close asked the singer to perform a song she penned for the movie soundtrack.

"It's a child's lullaby which Glenn sings to a little boy in the film," Ms O'Connor said.

"Glenn wrote the most amazing lyrics for the song and asked if I would put on a vocal on it. It was a really hard piece to learn but the lyrics really took me over when I started singing it."

Oscars

Studio bosses are so impressed with 'Lay Your Head Down Darling' that they plan to fly Ms O'Connor to New York next month to perform the track at a series of gigs showcasing songs for next year's Oscars.

"Glenn has been great to deal with. Like most actors she is wildly out there," she said.

But while the singer has made friends with Ms Close, relations with Bono have grown strained. Her new album 'How About I Be Me And You Be You', released on February 20, contains an attack on the U2 singer.

The track 'What Is A Real VIP' criticises him for being photographed with the late Pope John Paul II: "Getting our pictures taken with the Pope, Like some sick April Fool kind of joke."

Ms O'Connor said she penned the song following reluctance in the arts world to comment on a series of damning reports on clerical child abuse.

"In a hundred years from now, children in school will look back and ask, 'what were the artists doing?'," she said.

"There have been plenty of books and plays written but the biggest selling Irish music artists have been silent on the issue.

"Bono and Bob Geldof could have got things moving very quickly in the Vatican if they had stood up and said something.

Heartbroken

"I adore both of them for what they have done in Africa but I'm heartbroken they don't get involved in Ireland and Irish issues, particularly Bono because he is always going on about God," she said.

The singer, who has been married three times, is in a new relationship but declined to name names.

She said she wouldn't rule out a fourth marriage but definitely wouldn't be having any more children, after having a tubal ligation procedure at Beaumont Hospital in recent weeks.

"I've spent my adult life either, trying, or not trying, to get pregnant so I had my tubes done. Anyway, I'm a basketcase when I'm pregnant, so for a successful relationship that can't happen," she added.

The singer split with third husband Steve Cooney in March, after eight months.

However, she described all of her three husbands -- which also include music producer John Reynolds and journalist Nick Sommerland -- as "very nice people" who have never asked for anything in settlements.

"I think they were all just glad to see the back of me," she laughed.

Sinead sounds off on...

- WORKING ON A SONG WITH GLENN CLOSE: "Glenn wrote the most amazing lyrics for the song and asked if I would put a vocal on it. It was a really hard piece to learn but the lyrics really took me over when I started singing it."

- l HAVING MORE BABIES: "I've spent my adult life either trying, or not trying, to get pregnant so I had my tubes done."

- HER PREVIOUS HUSBANDS: "I think they were all just glad to see the back of me."

- WHY SHE'S ANGRY AT BONO: "I'm heartbroken (Bono and Bob Geldof) don't get involved in Irish issues, particularly Bono because he is always going on about God."

- SLIMMING DOWN: "I only feel better because people aren't being so abusive to me about my weight."

Sinead O'Connor plays The Olympia on December 18.

- Ken Sweeney Entertainment Editor